Musical toilet chair for infants



March 9, 1965 s. GARTHOFNER 3,172,390

MUSICAL TOILET CHAIR FOR INFANTS Filed March 30, 1964 BEN GARTHOFNER INVENTOR.

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United States Patent 3,172,390 MUSICAL TOILET CHAIR FOR INFANTS Ben Garthofner, San Diego, Calif., assignor of one-fourth to Barry Robert Garthofner, one-fourth to Donovan P. Gilmore, and one-fourth to Frank Tattoli Filed Mar. 30, 1964', Ser. No. 355,844 Claims. (Cl. 11667) This invention relates to a device which combines the conventional pottie chair with musical means whereby an infant makes music by relieving himself.

An object of my invention is to provide an infants toilet seat which makes music only upon the excretion of bodily waste by an infant.

A further object is to provide such a device which is foolproof and which is adjustable to various conditions.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a device of the above type which is of simple construction, inexpensive to manufacture and efiicient to operate.

For other objects and for a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front cross-sectional view of the chair along line 11 of FIG. 1.

FIGURE 2 is a side cross-sectional view thereof along line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIGURE 3 is a detailed view of the musical activating portion of the chair.

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of the chair.

FIGURE 5 is a top plan view thereof, and

FIGURE 6 is a view from the rear thereof.

Referring to the drawing showing the preferred structure and in which like numbers represent like parts in FIGURE 1 the number 1 represents an infants toilet chair provided with the conventional open seat, best seen in FIGURE 5. Said chair may be provided with a belt 8 to retain the infant on the seat. The chair may be provided with a folding back rest 9 with a strip 15 serving as a block to retain the back rest in a vertical position. The number 7 indicates pivot means by which the back rest may fold down onto the seat. Item 7 is preferably a bolt or screw operatively mounted through the side of the chair. The chair preferably has a base portion 13 as shown in FIGURE 3. This portion is preferably a flat rectangular shape member suitable for helping to retain the sides in alignment as illustrated.

It is to be understood that said portion of the chair may be made of wood, plastic or other material and may be modified without parting from the scope of my invention.

As a novel contribution I have combined such conventional chair with a support member 3 for retention of conventional waste receptacle 11. Said support member is preferably positioned between the toilet seat and said base portion 13 in parallelism therewith. Member 3 is preferably a rectangular fiat surface portion provided with stops secured to the surface thereof. Said stops aid in positioning receptacle 11. Pin 2 retains one end of support member 3 for hinge-like engagement with side of the chair. A pin, bolt, screw or stud is mounted in member 3 and is freely mounted in orifices on the side of the chair. At the opposite end of the support member, in the area at the front of the chair, spring member 12 is preferably mounted between the support member and the seat. The spring means is preferably a conventional spiral spring. It is preferably mounted as shown in FIGURE 2.

Sound means 5 is preferably of the common Swiss music box type which are readily available on the open market. Of course other means of causing a pleasant reaction on the infant may be used. If a music box is used it may be secured to the side of the chair as shown in FIGURES 1 and 6. A key 6 for winding the device may extend through the side for convenient operation. Such sound means are usually provided with a rotating part. I find that the rotating member 14 functioning as the governor on the Swiss music box may be utilized in an arrangement for stopping and starting the device.

Contacting member 4, which with item 14 constitutes the activating means for the sound, is preferably mounted in support member 3. The contacting member 4 preferably has threaded engagement with member 3 with a cross bar whereby it may be manually screwed up and down as an adjustment of the activating means. Member 4 is preferably pointed at the upper end thereof for best contact with member 14.

The operation of the device is as follows:

The infant is placed on the chair seat in the conventional manner. The weight of the infants waste matter in receptacle 11 causes spring 12 to stretch upon the lowering of member 3. Contacting member 4 i thusly removed from engagement with rotating member 14 as shown in FIGURE 3. Such action permits member 14 to rotate. Music will then be heard.

Although preferred embodiments of the device are as illustrated and described, it is to be understood that further modifications and changes in the details of construction that may be resorted to will fall within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed is:

l. A toilet training chair comprising supporting sides and a seat connected therebetween, said seat having an opening, a planar surfaced support member, means pivotally mounting the support member to said sides beneath the seat, tensioned spring means disposed forwardly of the pivotal mounting means connected to the seat and the support member for urging the support member to a substantially horizontal position with respect to the seat, a receptacle positioned on said support member below said opening, a musical device having a gravity operated actuating member mounted on one of said sides, and an upright control member carried by said support member cooperating with said actuating member for normally holding the actuating member in a raised inoperative position and permitting the musical device to be operated when the support member is caused to pivot downwardly by the introduction of a waste product into said receptacle whereby the control member is moved away from said actuating member to thereby permit said actuating member to be lowered under its own weight to actuate the musical device.

2. The toilet training chair as defined in claim 1 wherein means is provided for adjusting the operation of the control member in response to the amount of waste product introduced into said receptacle.

3. The toilet training chair as defined in claim 1 wherein means is provided for adjusting the operation of the control member in response to the amount of waste product introduced into said receptacle, said adjusting means including a threaded member forming a portion of said mounting means, and said upright control member being threadably received in said threaded member for adjustment relative to said actuating member.

4. The toilet training chair as defined in claim 1 including locating means for accurately positioning said receptacle on said support member below said opening.

5. The toilet training chair as defined in claim 1 including means for adjusting the operation of the control member in response to the amount of Waste product introduced into said receptacle, said adjusting means including a threaded member forming a portion of said mounting means, said upright control member being References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,535,704 12/50 Snyder et a1. 116-67 2,802,444 8/57 Gilmour 116-67 2,8965 67 7/59 Gilmour 116-67 3,059,608 10/62 Lee 11667 LOUIS I. CAPOZI, Primary Examiner. 

1. A TOILET TRAINING CHAIR COMPRISING SUPPORTING SIDES AND A SEAT CONNECTED THEREBETWEEN, SAID SEAT HAVING AN OPENING, A PLANAR SURFACED SUPPORT MEMBER, MEANS PIVOTALLY MOUNTED THE SUPPORT MEMBER TO SAID SIDES BENEATH THE SEAT, TENSIONED SPRING MEANS DISPOSED FORWARDLY OF THE PIVOTAL MOUNTING MEANS CONNECTED TO THE SEAT AND THE SUPPORT MEMBER FOR URGING THE SUPPORT MEMBER TO A SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL POSITION WITH RESPECT TO THE SEAT, A RECEPTACLE POSITIONED ON SAID SUPPORT MEMBER BELOW SAID OPENING, A MUSICAL DEVICE HAVING A GRAVITY OPERATED ACTUATING MEMBER MOUNTED ON ONE OF SAID SIDES, AND AN UPRIGHT CONTROL MEMBER CARRIED BY SAID SUPPORT MEMBER COOPERATING WITH SAID ACTUATING MEMBER FOR NORMALLY HOLDING THE ACTUATING MEMBER IN A RAISED INOPERATIVE POSITION AND PERMITTING THE MUSICAL DEVICE TO BE OPERATED WHEN THE SUPPORT MEMBER IS CAUSED TO PIVOT DOWNWARDLY BY THE INTRODUCTION OF A WASTE PRODUCT INTO SAID RECEPTACLE WHEREBY THE CONTROL MEMBER IS MOVED AWAY FROM SAID ACTUATING MEMBER TO THEREBY PERMIT SAID ACTUATING MEMBER TO BE LOWERED UNDER ITS OWN WEIGHT TO ACTUATE THE MUSICAL DEVICE. 